Rutan & Tucker Elects Layne Melzer Managing Partner

COSTA MESA, CA--(Marketwired - March 01, 2016) - Layne Melzer has been elected Managing Partner of Rutan & Tucker, LLP, Orange County's largest full-service law firm. Mr. Melzer, who started at the firm in 1988, is a business litigator and chair of the firm's Unfair Competition/Class Action Defense Group. Mr. Melzer has been a member of Rutan's Executive Committee for several years and is co-general counsel for the firm.

"I am honored and humbled to have been chosen by my partners to lead the law firm," said Melzer. "While the current legal market presents challenges, it also creates opportunities for law firms like Rutan that are nimble, innovative and client-centric. I look forward to helping Rutan navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities."

Mr. Melzer's litigation and trial experience includes class and mass actions, false advertising and consumer claims, unfair competition, real estate litigation, and internal partnership and corporate disputes. He handles cases throughout the United States, in both Federal and State forums, frequently involving high profile or high dollar value disputes. Mr. Melzer has been honored as a "Super Lawyer" by Law & Politics magazine and received the Brother International Corporation "Chief Legal Officer Circle of Excellence Award" for outstanding contributions as outside counsel.

The other members of the firm's Executive Committee include Partner Steve Nichols, who is a business litigation specialist and co-chair of Rutan's Construction Law Group and Partner William Meehan, who has extensive experience in finance transactions and co-chairs the Banking and Finance Group.

About Rutan & Tucker, LLP

Rutan & Tucker is one of California's largest full-service law firms with offices in Costa Mesa and Palo Alto. Primary practice areas include corporate and securities law, business, banking and finance, labor and employment law, intellectual property, real estate, government and regulatory law, land use law, bankruptcy, condemnation and property valuation, environmental law, construction law and taxation and estate planning.